Worth Waiting For
by mylatestmistake
Summary: Oneshot. After Emmett leaves a magazine in Edward’s room for him to peruse later, Bella finds it and, needless to say, has a few questions. BPOV. Rated T for mature conversations. Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.


This was a way to experiment with my boundaries of writing, seeing what I could do in different situations than I usually write about. I had a lot of fun with this so I hope I didn't bore you. Reviews are good for the soul. Positive or negative, feedback is appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** Just to be clear, Edward is not mine. Bella is not mine. Alice is not mine. Emmett is not mine. Jasper…as much as I wish he was, he's not mine either. To sum up, all characters and concepts belong to Stephenie Meyer, and I'm not her.

Worth Waiting For

**BPOV:**

"Bells, where are you headed?" Charlie asked as I hurried downstairs and headed for the door. He was immersed in whatever sport season it was, but looked up to see what the hurry was.

"Alice invited me over tonight. We're having a girls' night. The rest of the family is out camping." Not exactly true, they were out 'camping' at the moment, but they would be home within the hour. Alice had wanted me to come over earlier to play Wedding Barbie, but I talked her down to this late in the day, luckily. Though it wasn't so much luck as it was Edward's help.

"Should I expect you back tonight or tomorrow morning?"

"Well…it's been a while since we've had a sleepover, we have a lot of, uh, girl talk to catch up on." I hated being dishonest with him, mostly because I was afraid he'd see through it. I felt a slight blush color my cheeks and hoped it wouldn't be apparent that I was lying through my teeth. Alice and I wouldn't be spending much time together at all.

I had a prior engagement with a cold, sparkly angel, and he had a promise to keep. Time alone was very hard to come by in a house with six vampires with supersensitive hearing, so we would be heading to our meadow the next morning when the sun was shining.

"Oh…well, see you tomorrow then."

Thankfully, Charlie seemed to sense that he was out of his depth with the girl talk and dropped the subject. I continued toward the door, stopping briefly in the kitchen to grab something to eat on the way. As I was leaving I heard the phone ring and knew that Charlie was too busy with the television to get up and answer it. I turned to get the phone, and to my surprise it was not hanging where it should be on the hook. I only had the two remaining rings in which to find the phone, but it proved insufficient.

The answering machine picked up and I heard Alice's voice hissing angrily. As soon as I'd ascertained that she was calling simply to get me over there faster, I left figuring that I'd be there soon enough anyway, and as soon as I decided to go, I heard the familiar silence that accompanied her visions followed by a smug statement about how she'd see me soon.

I stepped outside, locking the door behind me, and found myself shaded under the cloudy shelter of Forks. I walked over to my truck and opened the door watching debris fly off the rusty, muddy hinges as I did so. Soon the roar of my truck bid me welcome and I drove off to the Cullen's house knowing the way to the long, winding path well after all of my visits.

When I arrived, I stopped the truck, unbuckled my seatbelt, and began to get out but was abruptly cutoff as Alice took over, impatient with my human speed. Before my mind had time to register she had pulled me out of my truck and employed her most accusatory tone. "Where have you been? They're going to be home any time now."

"Alice, slow down. I'm here now." She was so impatient, she knew exactly how much time we had and if she had time to waste arguing then I hadn't set her back too far. Apparently, though, this wasn't fast enough for her as she picked me up and before I'd had the chance to blink I was in the house, upstairs in the hallway outside her bathroom. I knew the drill. This was where we always played "dress-up."

I sat patiently as she went to work, pulling my plain hair into a simple, yet elegant up-do and began experimenting with make-up. I closed my eyes and let her have my fun while I thought of tomorrow morning and the radiant man who would be there with me. Time passed more quickly this way and before I knew it she was standing me up, and shoving a navy blue outfit into my arms, complete with the kind of hazardous shoes she always tried to get me to wear.

"Alice, seriously? I'm going to kill myself in these shoes. Do I have to?" She nodded in such a way that I knew arguing would be pointless.

With the mentality grin and bear it I dressed into the outfit and put on the shoes against my better judgment, with the intent to rid myself of them at first opportunity. "Bella, stop grimacing, you look beautiful, Edward's going to love that outfit on you. Come on, you can go wait for him in his room." She led me to the hallway just outside his door.

"I'll be back in just a minute." She said as she flittered off to her room to get something else I was sure she planned to torture me with. I stood awkwardly outside the door until she returned with a bobby pin in hand. "Bella, you can go in. It's as good as your room now anyway." She said it as though it was obvious, but I still entered with caution, it still seemed like his private place.

"Bella," she said with an exasperated sigh, "It's not like he'll mind. Besides he's in your room all the time." She sat me down on the edge of his bed and pulled out the bobby pin clipping a piece of hair that had fallen, back into it's place. I heard the sense in her words and realized that perhaps it wasn't as big a deal as I'd made it out to be, he would be here any minute.

Alice's face suddenly went slack in concentration, and in spite of the fact that she was looking directly at me, I knew she didn't see me.

"Alice, what did you see?" I asked frantically. Was everyone all right? She said they'd be home in a minute, but it was just like Emmett or Jasper to make a split second decision, trying some prank. And the split second decisions, the ones they didn't think through, were the most likely to backfire.

"You worry too much. It's nothing important. You're just going to be making things…_difficult_ for Edward tonight." She managed to get out between clenched teeth. It looked as though she was trying her hardest not break into a fit of giggles.

"But he's fine?"

"He'll be up here before you can count to sixty. I'm going to go change," she said, walking out of the room. I turned and gazed wistfully out the wall length window in the direction I thought he'd be returning from. I was so impatient I actually started counting; he'd been gone for two days now. While I understood the necessity of hunting, I longed for the imminent time when I wouldn't be left behind.

_One, two, three…_ I began to wonder about the cryptic message behind Alice's words. What did that mean? I would be making tonight difficult for him?

_Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…_ The first thought that came to my mind, was temptation. My blood or my body? I blushed at the thought that Edward actually wanted me in that way, the same way I wanted him. For the umpteenth time, I was grateful that he couldn't hear my thoughts.

_Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five…_ However, the tone of her voice had suggested that it was something I did differently, and those were ever-present challenges.

_Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty…_ I readied myself for disappointment as I neared sixty. After all, I hadn't seen him exit the forest.

I suddenly felt the slightest weight behind me on the bed, and cold hands were placed on my hips. I tilted my head back to see Edward sitting behind me. I scooted back to him and laid my head on his shoulder and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I didn't see you come to the house. I was watching." I gestured to the window and the view before us.

He smiled his angel's smile and replied with a chuckle, "You were looking in the wrong direction, we went north."

"Oh. I suppose I should have asked Alice." At this a slight frown crumpled his beautiful face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much, its just Alice has been keeping me out of her mind since I got close enough to hear her." He cringed "I'm not sure it's intentional, but I most certainly am not going to delve deeper into the things she's thinking." This confused me a bit, what could she be thinking? He must have noticed the confused look on my face because he answered my question almost as soon as it had formed in my head. "Jasper," he said with finality.

I blushed at the meaning behind this, wondering how often his siblings submitted him to this torture. "Maybe I can distract you? Or some music." I got up to sift through his massive collection of CDs.

He leaned back on the bed, and nodded in a complacent way, showing me that whatever I wanted, he was down for. Though I knew the exception, the point where his self-control would kick in and stop me from doing what I would regret, no matter how much I wanted to in the moment.

I sighed and moved to the more recent years of music, looking for something I would know. Rolled up and stuck on top of one of the lower shelves was a magazine. It struck me as odd, as I had never seen magazines in Edward's room before. Books, certainly. But he'd made it clear that most the current human worries were superficial and he didn't bother with them.

Curiosity got the better of me and, expecting to find a car magazine or some other hobby, I unrolled it to see the title. As soon as I saw it I blushed more furiously than I could remember, let out a small gasp, and dropped it, watching as it fell open on the floor, bending some of the pages at precarious angles.

It was a _Playboy_. Edward had a _Playboy_ magazine. It really shouldn't have shocked me as much as it did. He'd been alone for ninety years, constantly hearing the thoughts of three couples. It made sense. But a sudden thought struck me.

_When?_ He was almost always with me. I tried to think of unaccounted for periods of time when we weren't together but came up blank, not since Charlie had stopped enforcing the "visiting hours." If this were something he did when he went "hunting" he would have taken it with him this time too, right? And he spent nearly every night at my house.

_At my house, while I was sleeping? _No way, I could possibly believe that of some other guy maybe, but not my Edward. He was always such a gentleman. And even so, why would he need the magazine, unless he wasn't thinking about me. I was redder than a tomato now, and had the worry, if he really wanted only me, why had he needed it at all. All this flitted through my mind in the few seconds heard the heavy clunk of it falling echo around the room.

"Bella? What's wrong?" He'd seen it fall and watched my face transform from a slight pink flush to a bright cherry red, but he didn't seem to realize the cause.

"Nothing," I said, leaning over to pick up the fallen magazine, but just as I was about to grab it, I saw his hand pull it away before I had time to react. Stupid vampire speed. I watched his face for signs of comprehension, wondering what he would say next.

He swore under his breath. Then he was abruptly gone and the previously closed door was wide open, swinging slightly on it's hinges. I heard a chorus of ferocious growls. "Edward?" I shouted, preparing to follow the noise downstairs. "Get back up here!" This didn't make any sense, was he running from me?

I ran down the stairs and tripped right as I neared the bottom, throwing my arms out in an attempt to shield myself. A pair of cold arms caught me. "Bella, are you alright?" Emmett said as he set me properly on my feet. Then proceed to stand behind me as Edward came into view. Could this get any weirder? "Edward, wait. I just had to save her from falling down the stairs because you were too busy chasing me. Are you sure you want to keep this up?" He asked, his tone taunting.

"What? Edward, stop this before one of you gets hurt."

"You wouldn't want me to hurt you, now would you?" Emmett said in a high-pitched singsong voice, he was clearly having fun, though Edward was seething.

"Idiot," I heard mumbled from Edward's direction. So faintly that I might not have heard it at all.

"Come on, Edward. He clearly has the maturity of a five year old." I said throwing a glare back at Emmett. I stepped forward, away from Emmett, before promptly turning back towards him and began climbing the stairs. About four or five stairs up I tripped again, but this time Edward caught me. We walked in silence back to his room and when we got in the door I turned back to him and demanded, "What was that all about?"

"The magazine," he said grumpily. "It was Emmett's, he left it in my room."

"But, why would Emmett need the magazine? The way he talks you'd think he and Rosalie were busy every night." I blushed, yet again, as I realized exactly what I was saying and whom I was talking to. Did I seriously just ask, however rhetorically, about Edward's brother's sex life?

"He doesn't read it. It's just the type of propaganda he likes to surround himself with though. Who else's would it be?" His tone was light and joking.

"No one. I…I wasn't thinking." I stared intently at the floor as I said this, blushing more profusely. He let this hang in the air for a moment, while looking at me curiously, probably deciding which method of coercion would fare best.

"Bella." Lifting my chin with one finger he directed my gaze towards him. "Tell me what you're thinking."

I did my best to avoid his eyes, knowing that when I looked into them any hope I had of keeping this a secret would dissipate. "Bella," he repeated, and dropped his hand from my chin and placed it lightly on my lower back. With it he pulled me closer, while pressing his lips gently against my neck. I shivered. "Won't you tell me?" He whispered into my skin, sending small vibrations over it.

"It was…nothing. Just, I thought it might be…yours. It was in y-your room after all." I stuttered through it, partly because I was embarrassed by what I was saying, and partly because I couldn't concentrate when his lips were on my skin.

"And why, exactly, would I need that?" His voice was still sultry, persuasive, but there was a question burning behind it. What was he thinking? He pulled back to look in my eyes, questioning me.

"Well…you must…I mean…" I felt my face growing hotter and hotter, and I guessed I was roughly the color of a stop sign. I couldn't even make a coherent sentence. He just smiled a slightly amused, but encouraging smile. "I thought you…made use of it." I finished lamely. "You have to, don't you? I mean after ninety years you must have…" I trailed off once again and surprised myself by blushing even more; I'd thought I had reached the limit. There had to be one, right? This couldn't just keep getting worse and worse. He smile a crooked, angel's smile, and let out a little chuckle.

I turned in his loose grasp and returned to his huge bed burying my face in the pillow, hoping to sink down into the bed and disappear. "Hell, this just keeps getting worse." I grumbled into the pillow, but I knew he'd heard me. I felt his presence move beside the bed as he knelt down beside me, stroking my hair.

"Bella." His voice was slightly amused, at least he'd been pleased by my unorthodox conclusions. My face was still on fire as he gently rolled me to the side and pressed his ice-cold lips against my cheeks in succession. He moved his lips to my ear and whispered, "Do you really think I spend nearly every hour in your company to come home to a picture in a magazine?"

"Well, no. But you do…it. Don't you?" My composure was in tatters now, so I decided that I might as well finish the conversation, as opposed to bringing it up again later.

"Yes." His voice was still calm, and I wondered briefly if anything rattled him.

I bit my lip, wondering if it was tempting fate to think I could still speak without my voice breaking in embarrassment. I decided against speaking for the time being, trying to regain some semblance of control.

With this in mind I sat up facing him, still trying to collect my thoughts. I soon realized I'd have been better off lying down, as now I could hardly divert my eyes from his face, making it that much harder to form a sentence. But, of course, Edward didn't drop the subject. "Bella, what are you thinking?"

"Just that, I was wondering why you…not that I'm complaining, but why did you wait?" I sounded silly in my own ears, questioning a good thing.

"What do you mean?"

"Ninety years, and you could have had just about anyone, but you didn't. Why?" I knew Edward was more than capable of getting any woman he chose. In particular I knew of a strawberry blonde in Denali who would be more than willing to take him off my hands.

"I guess I knew there was something worth waiting for." At this I leaned down to kiss him and too soon, as always, he pulled away. I groaned at the loss of contact.

"I don't know what Alice was going on about," I mumbled, "Nothing is _difficult_ for you. I'm the one having trouble controlling myself. "

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," he replied. In a lighting fast movement he picked himself up off the floor and moved onto the bed. He slowed, as if giving me time to protest, as he laid me back on the bed and placed himself over me, holding himself up with his arms. He should know by now that I would never object to having him closer to me. While running his lips from my chin to my ear he took a deep breath, savoring the bouquet, as he put it and proclaimed, "Definitely worth the wait."


End file.
